I don't understand how some of the most religious people I know voted for Trump.

[dawg]

21. I'm a Christian myself.

I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church, so I think that technically makes me an evangelical too.

I have always tried to apply the teachings of my church to myself. Seeing the fault and sinfulness in myself inspires me to strive to be a better person. It also serves to make me more forgiving and less judgmental of others. Jesus said not to worry about the mote in someone else's eye when you've got a plank in your own. I get that.

But some people get something totally different from church. Instead of being convicted of their own shortcomings, they get a feeling of superiority from hearing about other people's shortcomings. They are happy to cast the first stone, because they (falsely) believe themselves to be blameless. (Or at the very least, much less sinful than those *other* people.)

In the end, it comes down to the authoritarian personality type. These people aren't made that way by the church. They certainly aren't made that way by the teachings of Christ (which are actually anathema to many of them, they just aren't thoughtful enough to realize it).

But authoritarians *are* attracted to the church. It's another way of feeling superior.

Sadly, authoritarian church members have been pretty successful at driving non-authoritarian Christians out of leadership positions and in many cases out of the church itself. I see this as a problem not only for the country, but for the church as well. They are destroying the ministry of the church more successfully than any oppressive secular government ever could.